Former UBS trader Kweku Adoboli was today sentenced to seven years in jail after being found guilty of two counts of fraud in connection with the $2.3bn trading loss incurred by UBS in September 2011.

Adoboli, who had worked on UBS’s London exchange-traded funds desk until his arrest in September last year, had pleaded not guilty to two charges of fraud and four of false accounting in a criminal case that began in London’s Southwark Crown Court in September.

The jury today cleared Adoboli of the four charges of false accounting, however this morning delivered a unanimous verdict of guilty for the charge of fraud by abuse of position for the period between May 31, 2011 and September 17, 2011. They later returned a majority 9-1 guilty verdict for the charge of fraud by abuse of position for the period between October 1, 2008 and June 1, 2011.

Each count had carried a maximum sentence of 10 years.

Mr Justice Keith today sentenced the 32-year old to seven years for one count of fraud and four years for the other count. The sentences will run concurrently and will include the year that Adoboli has already spent in incarceration. It is not yet known if the defence will appeal today’s verdict.

Mr Justice Keith said in his sentencing: "Your fall from grace as a result of these convictions is spectacular."

He added: "Whatever the jury's verdicts would have been you would forever have been known as the man responsible for the largest trading loss in British banking history. The jury's verdicts mean that what you did was criminal as well."

The case has spanned 40 days of proceedings before the jury retired to start considering its verdict last Wednesday afternoon.

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In the course of the court proceedings, the jury has heard evidence from Adoboli himself, as well as an array of witnesses called by Sasha Wass QC and Esther Schutzer-Weissmann on behalf of the Crown Prosecution Service, which brought the case against Adoboli.

Wass told the court in the course of the prosecution’s closing statement that the losses at UBS were not accidental but "the result of planned, purposeful, intentional, unhedged trades".

She added: "By his own admission, Mr Adoboli had been deceiving the bank since 2008."

However, Charles Sherrard QC, representing Adoboli, told the jury in the defence’s closing statement that the charges were "outrageous" and that his client had only been accused of criminal actions because UBS incurred losses.

He said: "Do you actually think he would be here if he'd actually made a profit in the summer of last year?"

Witnesses who appeared before the court in the course of the trial included the three other former members of the UBS ETF trading desk in London – John Hughes, Christophe Bertrand and Simon Taylor, who all left the bank in September last year after the unauthorised trading loss came to light. None of the traders have been accused of any legal wrongdoing.

Other witnesses included Ron Greenidge and John Di Bacco, two former UBS executives who had at different times supervised the ETF team, as well as members of UBS’ back-office staff.

Adoboli’s defence has been handled by Sherrard and Paul Garlick QC, who are under instruction from solicitors Bark & Co.

Andrew Penhale, deputy head of fraud at the Crown Prosecution Service, said after the verdicts that Adoboli's actions were “not a victimless crime".

He said: “The CPS Central Fraud Division are pleased to have brought this case so quickly to conclusion, with the trial opening one year to the day after the case was reported to City of London Police. This is a tribute to the hard work and dedication of the whole prosecution team.

“People who commit fraud, in any walk of life, should know that the scale and technicality of a case is no barrier to bringing it to justice. At the heart of any complex fraud is a simple notion of dishonesty which is something that we can all understand.”

A statement from UBS said: "We are glad that the criminal proceedings have reached a conclusion and thank the police and the UK authorities for their professional handling of this case. We have no further comment."

-- Write to Vivek Ahuja at vivek.ahuja@dowjones.com and Richard Partington at richard.partington@dowjones.com